mallet

[mal-it]

noun

1. a hammerlike tool with a head commonly of wood but occasionally of rawhide, plastic, etc., used for driving any tool with a wooden handle, as a chisel, or for striking a surface.

2. the wooden implement used to strike the balls in croquet.

3. Polo.,  the long-handled stick, or club, used to drive the ball.

mallet

/ ˈmælɪt /

noun

1. a tool resembling a hammer but having a large head of wood, copper, lead, leather, etc, used for driving chisels, beating sheet metal, etc

2. a long stick with a head like a hammer used to strike the ball in croquet or polo

3. a very large powerful steam locomotive with a conventional boiler but with two separate articulated engine units

Word History and Origins

Origin of mallet¹

1375–1425; late Middle English maillet < Middle French, equivalent to mail maul + -et -et

Word History and Origins

Origin of mallet¹

C15: from Old French maillet wooden hammer, diminutive of mail _maul (n)

Example Sentences

He also admitted burgling the site and stealing a mallet and power tools on the same night.

From BBC

But it was a switch from his trusted blade to a mallet putter "to help him with lining up putts" that really sparked a change in fortunes.

From BBC

As Tom uses a mallet to hammer in the homemade signs, passing motorists sound their horns.

From BBC

Quite taken by Ayers's enthusiasm and delight at the performance, Hampton gifted the youngster a pair of vibe mallets.

From BBC

"While wielding the mallet... a shock in my eye, I have to be hospitalised. Retinal detachment," he would write in a memoir years later.

From BBC

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